The “BELT.” Photo courtesy David Burke
Fromagerie.

If we lived anywhere near Rumson, New Jersey, our favorite restaurant would be David Burke’s Fromagerie.
Burke’s cooking team adds a creative touch to everything they serve. Here, the BLT becomes a BELT: a poached egg is added to the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Using a base of buttery brioche toast instead of white bread, build the sandwich and top it with the egg and a sprinkle of chives. You can serve it open face or add a second slice of toast on top.

We followed the Fromagerie decor and piped a circle of LeGrand sundried tomato pesto on the plate (where to buy LeGrand pesto).

The runny egg adds a new dimension of richness to this favorite American sandwich. the mayo: the runny egg yolk will be moisture enough.

THE HISTORY OF THE BLT
While toast, bacon and lettuce have been enjoyed since Roman times, tomatoes came from the New World in the mid-1500s. They were brought back to Europe by the Conquistadors and other explorers.

Tomatoes were initially considered poisonous, enjoyed as houseplants until the 1800s (the history of tomatoes).

At the same time, there was no mayo for the BLT. While mayonnaise sauce was invented in 1756, it was not until years later that the great French chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833) lightened the original recipe by blending the vegetable oil and egg yolks into an emulsion, creating the mayonnaise that we know today (the history of mayonnaise).

All the ingredients finally came together. Old cookbooks and menus show that BLTs were served as tea sandwiches in the late Victorian era (the late 1800s).

But they weren’t called “BLT.” The earliest recipes for bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches were listed under different names in cookbooks.

Today’s abbreviated name most likely came from American diner slang: “Give me a BLT on a raft,” i.e., a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich on toast.

HOW MANY TYPES OF SANDWICHES HAVE YOU HAD?

Check out the different types of sandwiches in our Sandwich Glossary.